Introduction
My son was old enough to get his first pet; as to why he chose a tortoise, I’ll never know. But ‘Luchito’ is now part of the family and apparently will be for 60+ years. For those who don’t know, tortoise habitats need to be equipped with UVB and heat bulbs. They need about 8 - 12 hours of light per day and the temp needs to be kept within a range of 78 degrees F - 92 degrees F. In an effort to get him interested in tinkering, making, and the general capabilities of the Raspberry Pi, I thought I’d do a fun project with him related to ensuring that his pet tortoise, ‘Luchito’, has the best care available.
What’s Connected
The Pi is connected to the internet through a WiFi dongle. The dongle is near the router, so I have not seen any drop in connection yet. We connected a light sensor (TSL2561) and a temperature sensor (BMP180). These were I2C sensors so it couldn’t have been easier to get these up on the dashboard. We had fun testing the sensors by making the temperature go up or light decrease and seeing the dashboard reflect appropriately.
I have 3 triggers set up.
- Send me SMS if temperature gets too hot.
- Send me SMS if temperature gets too cold.
- Send me SMS if light gets too low.
Dashboard Screenshots
Screenshot 1: General overview of the dashboard.
Screenshot 2: Triggers set up for Luchito.
Photos
Picture 1: Side view of the two sensors (inside) and the Pi (outside).
Picture 2: The heat lamp and light lamp.
Picture 3: Overview of Luchito’s enclosure.
Picture 4: Couldn’t resist uploading a pic of this cute little guy.
